The New York State Athletic Commission has given its verdict and decided that the Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach draw decision will not be overturned. Roach challenged Davis for the WBA lightweight title on March 1.
It was a closely fought bout in which the judges’ scorecards read 115-113 Davis, 114-114, 114-114. Davis retained his title via majority decision.
‘Tank’, however, deliberately took a knee in the ninth round and claimed it was due to extra grease in his hair. The referee didn’t count it as a knockdown, which baffled Roach’s camp and the boxing community as a whole. Roach appealed the draw decision as a potential knockdown would mean he won the fight.
The NYSAC have now given their ruling and the commission’s verdict read:
The bout continued for more than three full rounds after the referee’s no knockdown call, and because the boxers necessarily adjusted to the referee’s ruling, the referee’s call was not outcome-determinative.
It furthered:
Following an extensive after-the-fact review of the footage of the ninth round, that the most appropriate call … would have been for the referee to determine that Mr. Davis’ knee contacting the canvas constituted a knockdown. However, the determination of whether a knockdown occurred in that instance was within the discretion and authority of the referee.
The statement further claimed that it’s impossible to determine whether counting the incident as a knockdown would have changed the course of the fight over the final three rounds.
Such conjecture would be misplaced, and setting such a precedent is not viewed by the commission as guaranteeing a correct outcome retroactively or as in keeping with the best interest of boxing.
